sty,
She wallows on the green, green earth.
The boar he grunts and the little pigs squeak,
And each makes music with his mouth."

23. "O well do I know thy riddle,
And well it shall be spoke;
The hammer is raised in every smithy,
And falls with even stroke."

24. "O well do I know thy riddle,
Though thereof no boast make I.
It is Othin who rides upon his steed,
By land and eke by sea.

25. "O well do I know thy riddle,
Yet of wisdom I make no display.
Othin he rides upon his steed
By night and eke by day."

26. Othin has turned into a wild fowl,
And flown out from the hall;
And therein King Heithrek has been burnt,
He and his nobles all.

27. Othin has turned into a wild fowl,
And has flown far out to sea;
He has burnt King Heithrek in his hall,
And all his company.

INTRODUCTION TO THE SHETLAND BALLAD OF HILDINA

This ballad has been discussed above, pp. 39 and 164 f. It was taken
down by George Low in the course of a visit made by him to the island
of Foula in the Shetlands in 1774. He was entirely ignorant of the
language, and had apparently no idea as to the meaning of the actual
words, though the general drift of the ballad was explained to him by
the islander, William Henry, from whom he obtained it (cf. p. 164).
As very few remains of the dialect have been preserved, apart from the
ballad, the interpretation presents great difficulties. The following
translation of the first twelve stanzas is made from the corrected
text given by Dr M. Haegstad in his edition of the _Hildina_ contained
in _Skrifter udgivne af Videnskabsselskabet i Christiania_, 1900
(_Historisk-Filosofiske Klasse_, II).

THE SHETLAND BALLAD OF HILDINA

1. It was the Earl from Orkney,
And counsel of his kin sought he,
Whether he should the maiden
Free from her misery.

2. "If thou free the maid from her gleaming hall,
O kinsman dear of mine,
Ever while the world shall last
Thy glory still shall shine."

3. Home came the king,
Home from the ship's levy
The lady Hildina she was gone,
And only her stepmother there found he.

4. "Be he in whatever land,
This will I prove true,
He shall be hanged from the highest tree
That ever upward grew."

5. "If the Earl but come to O